Apparatus for distilling oils of the petroleum, tar, and like industries using a high vacuum.



L. STEINSOHNEIDER.

APPARATUS FOR DISTILLING OILS OF THE PETROLEUM, TAB, AND LIKE INDUSTRIES USING A HIGH VACUUM.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 9, 1910.

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LEO STEINS CHNEIDER, 0F BRUNN, AUSTRIA-HUNGARY.

APPARATUS FOR DISTILLIN OILS OF THE PETROLEUM, TAB, AND LIKE INDUSTRIES USING A HIGH VACUUM.

Application filed August 8, 1910. Serial-No. 576,375.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 17, 1911 To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, LEO STEINSCHNEIDER, engineer, a citizen of Austria, residing at Briinn, Province of Moravia, Austria-Hunary, have invented a new and useful Imp oVement in Apparatus for Distilling Oils of the Petroleum, Tar, and Like Industries Using a High Vacuum; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same.

The subject matter of my invention is an improved distillation oils of the petroleum, using a high vacuum.

The present-day plants for distilling oils bymeans of a vacuum, those plants being always herein referred to whlch are for treating large quantities of material and not insignificant amounts, do not deserve the name vacuum distillation applied to them. Properly speaking, they are only plants for distillation at a diminished pressure, and the reduction of pressure amountsjn the tar industry, as a rule, to not over 250 mm., so that the vapors are really only sucked out of the still, decomposition of the v vapors being thereby avoided. present-day vacuum plants is the difliculty of maintaining a certain minimum pressure and simultaneously allowing the fractions to issue freely. In distilling plants known heretofore which Work with a high vacuum the receiver for the distillates is likewise evacuated and thereby indirectly brings about the evacuation of the still. Such a plant for tar products is described in the work Die lndustm'e ties Stez'nkohlenteers and Ammom'alcs by Dr. Lunge. Apart from theconsiderably more troublesome separate arrangement the vacuum receiver must be continuously supervised or checked partly to prevent the same running over and partly, if a still spits or goes black, to reverse into another receiver. Such a control is impossible in practice. It is therefore unav'oidable that in these apparatus the contents of one entire distillate receiver is spoiled by tar and like industries,

tillation is necessary, or the overflow or entraining of the contents of the still lasting the vessels S by means of plpes 1', to suitably" being able to be obtained only by increased use of acid. Frequently, howeyer, even plant, for distilling Further, one defect of when considerably more acid is used only a reddish or brown distillate can be obtained and redistillation cannot be avoided. Therefore a vacuum distillation plant which admits of perfectly free visible issue of the distillates is a long-felt want. In addition, a Vacuum distillation plant in which evacuation takes place through the distillate receiver is wrong in principle, because the noncondensable gases remain too long in contact with the distillates and are therefore partially reabsorbed bythe same. The non-condensable gases must be removed as quickly as possible. All these defects would be done away with at once if the distillation could be so arranged that between issuing from the cooling vessel and entering into the receiving box that height were provided which cor responds to a certain vacuum, 6. 9. one of /8 m. column of water. Such plants have been constructed in which, however, we meet with the unavoidable constructive difliculty of having to make the distillation plant exceedingly high in order to be able to arrange the discharge above ground. The substructures for the distilling plant are'exceedingly expensive, and raising the fuel and attendance are very disadvanta eous.

Now a primary object of my inventlon is completely togremedy the above-mentioned defects.

In the accompanying drawing a dlstill ng plant according to my invention for hlgh vacuum is represented diagrammatically in elevation.

Referring to the drawing, the distillate vapors pass from the still D through a system of air-cooled dephlegmators A andB of any suitable construction to the tubular cooler and thence to the elevated condenser C. The distillates condensed in the dephlegmators A and B pass away to the tubular coolers O and thence through pipes 1', to collectors S which may preferably be provided with floats forregulating the level of the liquid contained in them.

( The liquid distillates formed in the tubular cooler K may, if desired, pass directly to a similar-collector S. The separate liquid fractions collected in this manner pass from low fraction pumps P, each fraction having its own pump. These pumps force the fractions through separate pressure ipes r, lnto the higher receiving boX E; T e non-condensable gases are sucked out of the elevated condenser G -b the dry air-pump P by means of a suction pipe 1', and pass through a pipe 1 into the open air.

The tubular coqlers O and K and the condenser C contain cold water, whose path of flow is shown by the arrows; in the condenser C the cold water contacts directly with the vapors which are to be condensed and is led away to the sewer or drain by a tall fall pipe 1 corresponding to the vacuum.

Now whereas in plants for low vacuum the condensed liquid can run out freely into the receiving box after leaving the cooler and passing a suitable siphon, because a small height of liquid corresponding to the vacuum suflices in the vertical pipe 1' the present arrangement enables work to proceed under a high vacuum without its being necessary to make the height H of the discharge pipes 73, correspond to the vacuum and consequentl to have to maintain the considerable di erence in level mentioned above as a drawback.

By employing thepumps P it is possible to make the height H of the fall pipe 1",, such that the column of liquid in this pipe requires to have merely that height which this pump is able to maintain when evacuating. In order to give an actual example, 1f the pump P is able to suck liquid to a height of 6 m., with an absolute vacuum and a specific weight equal to 1 of the distillate the height H between the discharge #2.. of the collector S and the suction socket of the pump P would have, to be merely fl m.

The considerable expenseof elevating the entire distillation plant for the purpose of obtaining the difference in level requisite for the vacuum is avoided by my arrangement, and in this case merely the barometric condenser requires to be elevated.

I claim The combination, with distilling plant working with a high vacuum comprlsing dephlegmators, coolers connected therewith, and an elevated condenser, of a receiving box, a plurality of pumps below said coolers and said receiving box,suction pipesconnecting a pump w1th each cooler, and pipes connecting each pump with the receiving box, the height of said suction pipes being such that pumps of small suction power can be em loyed for pumping away the fractions rom the coolers.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

, LEO STEINSOHNEIDER.

Witnesses: V

Mom'rz SCHMOLKA, LOUIS FABRITIUS. 

